Android’s Dirty Secret: Shipping Numbers Are Strong But Returns Are 30-40%

[FrozenTomato]

Please site your proof that basic economic/capitalism rules do not apply or is this just your opinion based on your distaste for android?

You say things based on your personal experience. I say things based on my personal experience. I have frien and relatives who use their android phone as a feature phone.


Things that backs up my claim:

significantly lower apps, songs, videos downloaded on Android phones despite having a larger user base compared to iOS.

I'll brb. need to do something.


Btw, My hate for Android doesn't disprove the fact and the general opinion that Android is a crap OS from a copycat company.

 

[KnightWRX]

I'm so sick and tired of hearing how many Android systems are out there compared to IOS, the only comparison that exists is comparing the best selling Android phone by manufacturer to the iPhone, then we would know who is selling more, then you can compare the return rates by manufacturers.

That's a result of Apple's actions in the market. Apple made devices irrelevant, they made the eco-system surrounding devices what matters.

And in the end, the Android eco-system is multi-vendor, hence growing more rapidly. Apple basically took the cellphone world, which was a big "manufacturer vs manufacturer" world and turned it into the PC market.

Btw, My hate for Android doesn't disprove the fact and the general opinion that Android is a crap OS from a copycat company.

An opinion isn't a fact, never was, never will be.

 

[FrozenTomato]

Do you actually have any proofs of what you claim?

I will post something later to back up my claim. I need to go back to work.

 

[Hellhammer]

You say things based on your personal experience. I say things based on my personal experience. I have frien and relatives who use their android phone as a feature phone.

All my friends who have iPhones use it for calling, SMS and Angry Birds. Hence I conclude the fact that iPhon owners use their phones for most basic features and only have it to "show off". Two of my friends have Android phones and one of them uses it for some serious stuff (DS emulation etc), thus I make the conclusion that Android is used by power users.

Is this really getting us anywhere? No. It's no use to use your friends as your source, the user base is way too limited. If you make claims that people in India and China make up most of the Android sales, then you have to have more than your friends as a source.

 

[ChazUK]

Can you share these these 100mhz Android phones FT?

None of those handsets (if they exist) are included in the activation figures from Google as they won't have access to the Android Market and will lack the closed source components of Android that are licenced to OEMs by Google.

I have a feeling we're in the midst of a troll with facts like those.

 

[KnightWRX]

If you make claims that people in India and China make up most of the Android sales, then you have to have more than your friends as a source.

Anyway it's patently false as the Nielsen chart shows. Android is 39% of US smartphone sales while iOS is 28%. So even in the US where the 2 biggest carriers have iPhones, Android is still outselling the iPhone.

I have a feeling we're in the midst of a troll with facts like those.

You get this feeling just now ? The guy has been on this site less than a month and has been constantly hating on Google. Why come on Macrumors to polute the atmosphere and start wars about Android and Google in the first place if not to simply get replies ?

 

[maflynn]

Things that backs up my claim:

significantly lower apps, songs, videos downloaded on Android phones despite having a larger user base compared to iOS.

How does volume of apps/songs/videos downloaded quantify your claim that the hardware/software is crap and the only reason why android is ahead of iOS is because many android handsets offer a one get one 50% off (or free)?

The two have nothing to do with each other.

You make generialized blanket statements based on opinion as it appears you have no personal experience with any android phone. Its hard to make a statement of fact without citing proof, including experience. Instead of providing evidense to back up your claim you mention download volumes

 

[FrozenTomato]

How does volume of apps/songs/videos downloaded quantify your claim that the hardware/software is crap and the only reason why android is ahead of iOS is because many android handsets offer a one get one 50% off (or free)?

The two have nothing to do with each other.

Sorry I'll clarify my reply later. Brb.

 

[ChazUK]

Sorry I'll clarify my reply later. Brb.

Do you have a source for these 100mhz android phones or were you spewing turd?

 

[FrozenTomato]

Do you have a source for these 100mhz android phones or were you spewing turd?

Well it felt like it for this guy with a Samsung Galaxy S

is a Samsung Galaxy S the slowest phone ever ?????
http://www.samsunggalaxysforum.com/...is-a-samsung-galaxy-s-the-slowest-phone-ever/

 

[FrozenTomato]

Do you actually have any proofs of what you claim?

Proof that Android users are NOT LOYAL to Android. They don't give a crap about Android. They're only using Android because that's what's available on their carrier and/or because it's cheap/affordable.

Loyalty highest among Apple users at 59 percent. The figure was 28 percent for users of phones running Google's Android software. Apple iPhone user loyalty twice that of Android.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/11/29/us-smartphones-survey-idUSTRE6AS0XB20101129

 

[KingCrimson]

Also tell me why should I buy a Samsung Galaxy Tab when there is no Samsung store to take it if something goes wrong? Apple Stores are the ultimate trump card for iDevices.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R146NA...e=UTF8&ASIN=B00519RWI8&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode=

Junk.

 

[FrozenTomato]

Please site your proof that basic economic/capitalism rules do not apply or is this just your opinion based on your distaste for android?

"Capitalism is such that people will figure out the poor products and gravitate to the excellent ones.". This is the nirvana of capitalism that will never be achieved. It sounds great in theory but it doesn't always work in practice specially in the smartphone bussiness due to several reasons: the iPhone is available on fewer carriers/countries than Android (distribution/availabilty). the iPhone is generally more expensive than most Android phones (price elasticity). demographic differences is another factor (Android users are generally younger than iPhone users, Android users are also generally less wealthy and less educated compared to iPhone users according to the Nielsen study). And then there are just some people who don't care about what type of phone they have as long as it works, they don't give a crap about quality, design, etc.


Bottom line: Android is the ugly chic that every loser settles for because she's the easiest to get.

I guess the iPhone's the prom queen.

 

[ChazUK]

Well it felt like it for this guy with a Samsung Galaxy S

is a Samsung Galaxy S the slowest phone ever ?????
http://www.samsunggalaxysforum.com/...is-a-samsung-galaxy-s-the-slowest-phone-ever/

What does the SGS have to do with this:

Android is in more carriers AND majority Of the Android phones out there are free/buy one-get-one deals/ $5-$10 100 mhz crap phones they sell in India, China and other third world countries where people use their Android smartphones as a "nice" feature phone. Most of these phones are still running older versqions of Android

Be honest here, you're just here to stir trouble aren't you?

 

[FrozenTomato]

wikipedia:

Version API level Distribution
3.x.x Honeycomb 11-13 0.9%
2.3.x Gingerbread 9-10 18.6%
2.2.x Froyo 8 59.4%
2.0.x/2.1.x Eclair 5-7 17.5%
1.6 Donut 4 2.2%
1.5 Cupcake 3 1.4%

 

[ChazUK]

wikipedia:

Version API level Distribution
3.x.x Honeycomb 11-13 0.9%
2.3.x Gingerbread 9-10 18.6%
2.2.x Froyo 8 59.4%
2.0.x/2.1.x Eclair 5-7 17.5%
1.6 Donut 4 2.2%
1.5 Cupcake 3 1.4%

None of those phones above will be cheap $5 to $10 phones with 100mhz cpu's. Those figures are from phones that access the Android Market. The lowest specced phone in that list is the HTC T-Mobile G1.

Forget any data that comes direct from Google (activation figures/Android Market stats) as only handsets with licenced Google components will ever be included in the figures.
http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html

 

[FrozenTomato]

None of those phones above will be cheap $5 to $10 phones with 100mhz cpu's. Those figures are from phones that access the Android Market. The lowest specced phone in that list is the HTC T-Mobile G1.

Forget any data that comes direct from Google (activation figures/Android Market stats) as only handsets with licenced Google components will ever be included in the figures.
http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html

Here you go. Android running on a TI OMAP 850, 200 Mhz.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2259431,00.asp

 

[ChazUK]

Here you go. Android running on a TI OMAP 850, 200 Mhz.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2259431,00.asp

Are you getting desperate or something?

That was a beta (pre 1.0) build of Android running on prototype hardware which was never released commercially. Are these the handsets you are claiming are on sale in India and China?

 

[FrozenTomato]

Are you getting desperate or something?

That was a beta (pre 1.0) build of Android running on prototype hardware which was never released commercially. Are these the handsets you are claiming are on sale in India and China?

hey you asked

 

[AppleScruff1]

Antennagate wasn't real because the return rate was 1.7%.

The problem may have existed, but the experience of the vast majority of users wasn't affected negatively.

I'm perfectly content to conclude, however, that the author of this article (as posted on TC) is about as reliable as Ed Bott.

It wouldn't have mattered if the phone wouldn't work at all. They would still have sold in record numbers and people would be singing it's praises as a paperweight. That's what the true Apple believers do, make excuses for anything that might be the least beat negative about Apple.

I suppose everyone just imagined it then? I suppose I'm imagining the signal drop on my iPhone when I grip it? Get real.

But if you kept the phone anyway, what does it matter? It won't stop anyone from buy the next one and even if it has issues, they will be ignored.

 

[Hellhammer]

Proof that Android users are NOT LOYAL to Android. They don't give a crap about Android. They're only using Android because that's what's available on their carrier and/or because it's cheap/affordable.

Loyalty highest among Apple users at 59 percent. The figure was 28 percent for users of phones running Google's Android software. Apple iPhone user loyalty twice that of Android.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/11/29/us-smartphones-survey-idUSTRE6AS0XB20101129

Just because Android users are not brand-whores doesn't mean they don't like Android. They are open to other platforms as well. What your graph shows is that iPhone users are mostly brand-whores who will buy whatever Apple releases.

This article doesn't backup your statement that most Android phones are cheap and crappy and sold in China.

"Capitalism is such that people will figure out the poor products and gravitate to the excellent ones.". This is the nirvana of capitalism that will never be achieved. It sounds great in theory but it doesn't always work in practice specially in the smartphone bussiness due to several reasons: the iPhone is available on fewer carriers/countries than Android (distribution/availabilty). the iPhone is generally more expensive than most Android phones (price elasticity). demographic differences is another factor (Android users are generally younger than iPhone users, Android users are also generally less wealthy and less educated compared to iPhone users according to the Nielsen study). And then there are just some people who don't care about what type of phone they have as long as it works, they don't give a crap about quality, design, etc.

Your own article already bashes one of your claims. The article shows that Android and iPhone users use their phones very similarly, which means Android users don't buy them as "feature phones" like you previously claimed.

 

[OllyW]

This thread has run it's course and is now closed.